Three years ago Leica gave us the Leica "T" which would later become the TL. The TL camera was Leica's initial foray into the crop sensor mirrorless interchangeable lens game. I remember the first time the T camera came out I got it in my bag with the 23mm Summicron, and though slightly frustrated with the speed of the camera, the refined aesthetics and positive mechanics of the camera made me want to shoot with it. The T camera had a simplistic form that I had never experienced in any camera before. After the launch of the T camera, there were a plethora of firmware updates that brought the camera up to speed with its autofocus, user interface, and overall operating speed. During this time we also saw new lenses such as the 35mm Summilux, 11-23mm Vario-Elmarit, and 60mm Macro come to the Leica TL lens selection.

Today we see a new era of the Leica TL camera, the Leica TL2. The TL is a new camera which is very exciting. Keeping a very similar form to the previous generation the TL packs a lot more horsepower. The TL2 features a 24mp APS-C sensor paired with Leica Maestro II image processor giving it an iso range of 100-50,000.

Autofocus is another area where there is a great improvement in the Leica TL with 49 AF points and a massive increase in speed. If you are looking to shoot Leica M glass or any other manually operated glass you will find the focus peaking feature in the TL2 to be extremely helpful.

Capturing in a variety of ways is something that the Leica TL2 is really going to excel at. The TL2 now features 4k and slow motion video recording capabilities. Continuous shooting has been bumped up to 20 frames per second and an electronic shutter mode allows the TL to shoot at up to 1/40,000.

Of course, the Leica TL is built to be a "connected camera." Like the previous model, the TL2 will feature wifi connectivity. Something new for the Leica TL2 is the USB 3.0 Type-C interface which will allow for fast data transfer as well as mobile charging off of something like a USB plug on your computer, or an external battery.

The Leica TL2 is a great update to a Leica camera I already loved despite some of its popular rejection. I am thrilled to see a higher resolution sensor that is going to allow photographers to shoot in lower light. The increased speed all around is just going to continue what the original TL was already good at, taking the focus from the camera in your hands to the picture in front of you. My hope is that those who took the Leica T for what it was and those who wanted to love the original TL are properly wooed by the TL2.

The Leica TL should begin shipping very soon, and we will have a more thorough walk through of this new camera once it arrives. In the meantime, you can pre-order the new Leica TL2 through our online store.